Phonology Key Vocabulary

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

Study abstract categories that organize the sound system of a language.

Question 2

Spectrogram

Answer 2

Is a graphic representation of the frequency distribution of the complex jumble of sound waves that give the hearing impression of speech sounds.

Question 3

Phoneme

Answer 3

Distinctive in the sense that they enable speakers to distinguish between words. Phonemes can distinguish words.

Question 4

Phone

Answer 4

A physical realization of a speech sound like the voiceless.

Question 5

Distribution

Answer 5

The different positions in which a speech sound can occur or cannot
occur in the words of a language.

Question 6

Minimal pairs

Answer 6

Is a pair of words which differ in only one sound, but differ in meaning.

Question 7

free variation

Answer 7

Speakers can choose which allophone they use.

Question 8

Neutralisation

Answer 8

A contrast between phonemes becomes invisible.

Question 9

Final devoicing

Answer 9

A voiced phoneme has a voiceless allophone in word-final position.

Question 10

Aspiration

Answer 10

when the process of aspirating stops.

Question 11

t/d-flapping

Answer 11

processes in which the contrast between two phonemes is neutralised in a particular phonetic context.

Question 12

Rhotic

Answer 12

r-sounds can occur in word-final position.

Question 13

non-rhotic

Answer 13

r-sounds do not seem to occur in word-final position.

Question 14

constituents

Answer 14

the elements that make up a syllable.

Question 15

syllabic consonants

Answer 15

consonants which occupy the central part of the syllable.

Question 16

nucleus

Answer 16

slot for a vowel.

Question 17

onset

Answer 17

the prevocalic slot.

Question 18

coda

Answer 18

postvocalic slot.

Question 19

vowel epenthesis

Answer 19

The insertion of vowels into syllables.

Question 20

syllabification

Answer 20

Assigning syllable structure to words.

Question 21

sonority

Answer 21

The category that captures our acoustic impression of clear audibility.

Question 22

Sonority Sequencing Principle

Answer 22

Sounds preceding the nucleus (onsets) must rise in sonority. Sounds following the nucleus (codas) must fall in sonority.

Question 23

allophones of the phoneme

Answer 23

Phones which function as alternant realisations of the same phoneme.

Question 24

narrow transcription

Answer 24

a transcription (symbols)

Question 25

complementary distribution

Answer 25

Two sounds which are distributed in such a way that one can only occur
where the other cannot occur.